


Colors of the Universe: Chapter 3 A Lush Green Place

by ColbyQuartz



Series: Colors of the Universe [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColbyQuartz/pseuds/ColbyQuartz
Summary: After crashing in the wormhole during the Galra escape, Arix and Keith land on a planet full of life and must survive long enough for the rest of Voltron to find them.
Series: Colors of the Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604071





	Colors of the Universe: Chapter 3 A Lush Green Place

DAY 1:  
I continued to lay peacefully on the floor of this strange and beautiful planet, surrounded by the sounds of its life; the whistling grass, the babbling river, the swaying trees, after all that time in the Galra’s clutches it was like a symphony to my ears. At that moment I wished I could stay like this forever.  
“You look comfy”  
I heard Keith’s voice somewhere above me. He must have come back from the lion after sending out the signal to his friends, the other pilots of the other Voltron lions. Oh yeah, I had just been saved by a member of Voltron, file that one under ‘freak out at a more convenient time’. I guess I must’ve been laying there for a little while, I’m not sure how long.  
“I am,” I said as I slowly stood to my feet. “This is practically luxurious after sleeping on the beds in the Galra ships-“I stopped a bit suddenly when I turned and saw him. He wasn’t wearing his armor anymore, instead he was wearing a grey shirt and black pants. His boots still looked relatively the same, white with red details. Now that his helmet was off, I could also get a better look at his hair, black all the way through from his bangs to the tip of his mullet that stopped at the base of his neck.  
Yep, he was definitely hot.  
“Uh…wow.” I said a bit taken aback by his appearance.  
“What?” He said quizzically.  
“Well…it’s just…Y’know, pilot of Voltron, my saviour from the Galra, it’s a little weird to see you so…casual.”  
“Did you expect me to stay in that stuffy armor?” he said with a slight smile and a raised eyebrow.  
“Heh, guess not.”  
He walked over and stood next to me, even though we were still a few feet apart I could feel a blush creeping in on my face.  
“This place really is beautiful.” He said.  
“Yeah, it is.” I agreed, “It’s to bad we won’t be staying long.”  
“Well…I don’t know about that.” Keith said rubbing his neck a bit.  
“What do you mean?” I turned to him a bit concerned. “I thought you had contacted the rest of Voltron?”  
“Not exactly. I’ve started broadcasting a signal from my lion, they should be able to find it soon though.”  
I looked at him, still concerned. “And how long is ‘soon’ exactly?”  
“I…don’t know.” He said frowning, “but they will find us and get us out of here, I promise.”  
I stared at him with my eyes narrowed for a second. He had promised to rescue me from the ship too, and he did do that, although it did land us here…  
“Hmm…alright then.” I said smiling again. “I guess we just wait then. After all, being stranded here isn’t to bad.”  
I turned and looked back at the river.

I strolled back into the clearing where the lion was…parked? Can you park a lion? Well, whatever, the point is I had just come back after walking around the surrounding area a bit. By this point we had been on this planet for several hours and the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon. Judging by the fact that we had landed at about midday, when the sun was almost directly above us, it seemed this planet had a similar day-night structure to that of Domnas. As I walked over to the lion, I noticed Keith was crouched over the ground assembling some sticks and rocks into a sort of makeshift campfire.  
“Watcha doin?” I said looking over his shoulder behind him.  
“Setting up a fire, it’s gonna be dark soon and we need something to cook with.”  
“Oh…yeah.” I said a little worried. Now that I was thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t eaten for most of the day. With everything that was happening my adrenaline and excitement had drowned out the thought of needing food, but now that things had settled, I realized how unfortunately hungry I was.  
“Um…Do we have any food to cook?” I asked as my stomach gurgled a little.  
“There are a few emergency rations in my lion, but I’d like to try and save them until they’re absolutely necessary.” He said, still concentrating on the campfire, “But I did notice a few fish swimming in the river.” He turned and nodded towards the gently flowing waters.  
After a few more minutes, Keith had managed to get a small flame going in the center of the stick pile. We had the means of cooking food, now all we needed was…well, food.  
“I don’t suppose you’re any good at fishing?” He asked me. I stared at the water, contemplating as a few small fish darted around.  
“I think…I have my ways.” I responded, “How about you?”  
He smirked at me, “I have my ways.” At that he pulled out a…thing. I wasn’t really sure how to describe it, it was this circular object with a handle in the middle and a couple of holes on both ends. It too had the same white and red design as his armor, and I assumed it was probably made from the same stuff. Whatever it was I couldn’t see how it was going to help us catch fish.  
Then it turned into a sword.  
Out of nowhere, there was a small flash of light then boom, sword. I jumped a bit in shock and stared at the weapon with my mouth slightly agape.  
“Where did…how did you…” I stammered.  
Keith stifled a chuckle, “It’s called a bayard. Me and the others use them as weapons.”  
“Others…you mean the other lion pilots?” I said, still a bit dumbfounded.  
“Technically we’re called paladins but, yeah.”  
“Paladins? Well, excuse me.” I said regaining some of my composure.  
“Heh, yeah I know, c’mon.”

So, we shucked our shoes and rolled up our pants and waded into the water. We waited until it was about shin deep before we started trying to ‘fish’. At first, I couldn’t help but be amused as Keith stabbed the water repeatedly, shouting and grunting and only accomplishing at getting his sword wet. I snickered uncontrollably as I watched this ‘Paladin of Voltron’ struggle to catch fish.  
“You could help you know.” He said giving me a playful scowl.  
“Alright, give me a sec…” I replied. I proceeded to close my eyes and stand quietly and still in shallow water.  
At this point I’d like to divulge a bit of the backstory of my species. As you have likly already ascertained we are a humanoid species, much like your own except for a significant key difference. You see my kind has anthropomorphic features in addition to our human nature. That means that our appearances vary from yours, like my ears and tail for example. Everyone on my planet and the two other planets orbiting our solar system has these qualities, which is why our star is named Anthros.  
However, there is much more to these animalistic features than just appearance. Like animals, certain senses of ours can be naturally heightened, such as smell or hearing. Most people have a slight advantage over non-anthros in some regard, and they can train themselves to strengthen their senses even more. This is rather helpful for accomplishing tasks such as hunting, which is a large part of our rather…uncomplicated culture.  
While I was never very interested in training my senses, I do have a bit of experience that I can rely on in a pinch such as this. It doesn’t come as naturally to me though, and usually takes a bit of concentration to use them. So, I stood there for a minute, listening to the river, the trees, focusing on the sounds around me, and probably getting a few strange looks from Keith. I waited patiently, silently, for the perfect moment to…  
My eyes snapped open as I lunged into the river with a remarkable amount of swiftness, if I may toot my own horn. In a moment I shot back up, shaking myself off a bit, as I turned to Keith, smiling and holding a struggling fish between my fangs.  
He looked at me both impressed…and a little weirded out.  
I’ll admit, I was a little embarrassed to have gone feral in front of Keith. People from my species are usually split into two groups, either their proud of their animal-like talents and enjoy showing them off, or they’re embarrassed by them or just don’t like to flaunt them. I was definitely part of the second category, but nevertheless we did manage catching three small fish, two of which were mine, so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining.  
By the time they were cooked and we had started eating it was mostly dark out, the only light being our fire, the ones coming from the lion, and a few glowing insects that had decided to stretch their wings. Keith had questioned me about my ‘unusual’ fishing techniques and I told him a few things about my people and our culture.  
“Huh…so people are pretty split up about it, aren’t they?” He asked as I explained the different ways people viewed their animal traits.  
“Yes, it’s always been a controversial part of our culture.” I told him. “Ferals is the name given to those who admire and like using their animal traits, and those who try more to leave them behind and use their intelligence instead are called Neuroes.”  
“Huh, I see…” Keith said thoughtfully, “Y’know, it’s really cool, learning about all the different cultures and views that exist on other planets.”  
“Yeah, it really is.” I said. I had always wanted to see other planets, explore other worlds, ever since I was little I would look up at the stars and tell myself that someday, someday I would see them all. Now I was here doing just that, except this isn’t exactly how I imagined it happening. I decided to continue discussing my world more.  
“Domnas, my home planet, is a predominantly Feral state, although there are a few more technologically advanced areas. Falavvar is very Feral; it’s the smallest planet and also the farthest from the sun, so the environment is cold and harsh. Then there’s Hyron, very Neuro driven and the largest of the planets. That’s where the capital is.”  
“Wow,” Keith said intrigued, “So it sounds like the planets relate to each other more like countries than different worlds.”  
“Exactly,” I replied, “It helps that they’re much smaller than other planets. Since Hyron is the biggest and Domnas and Falavvar are smaller, the Neuro-Feral balance is pretty equal right now, however I think it might be starting to shift to a more Neuro and modern system. The capital is becoming more and more powerful and Falavvar has always been…for lack of a better word, insignificant.”  
“Huh…I think I get it.” Keith said.  
“Good because I don’t. Politics are universally confusing.”  
After eating and talking for a little while longer, we eventually both turned in for the night. Instead of resting in the lion though, I went inside and grabbed a couple of thick blankets to lay on the grass. Sleeping under the stars sounded much more appealing after being cooped up in Galra quarters for so long. Keith laid down in the grass for a little while, a couple of feet away. I think he was going to retire to the lion in a bit, but after such a long and crazy day I fell asleep very fast and didn’t see him leave.

DAY 2:  
I woke up exactly as I had been when I fell asleep. It had been a deep and dreamless sleep and by the time I awoke the sun had already risen a couple feet above the horizon. I got up groggily, stretching as I stood, when I was suddenly interrupted by fabric being thrown in my face.  
“Here, figure you’d want something better than those prison rags.” Keith said.  
I scrambled to yank the clothes off my face. It looked fairly similar to his attire, some blue jeans and a grey shirt.  
“Oh…uh, thanks.” I said. “I’ll go into the woods a bit to change.”  
I slipped into the new clothes quickly, being grateful to wear something comfortable and not hideous again (although I did have to lower the waistband on the pants a little since it couldn’t go past my tail). I rubbed the shirt’s fabric between my fingers a little bit. Keith’s shirt…this will probably sound weird but it kind of had a certain…smell, like how some places or people just have their own odor for some reason. I don’t know, it was probably just his deodorant or something, it doesn’t matter.  
I came back into the clearing where the two of us discussed what we would be doing for the day. It was decided that we should scout out our surroundings a bit more, get more familiar with our environment and possibly forage for some food. So, we set off into the woods, staying close to river so we could find the way back, and walked in relative silence for a while watching the sunlight flitting through the semi-dense canopy of trees. As I walked behind him, I thought about my rescuer. He was interesting, so incredible and brave and yet so normal. Sure, he was a ‘mighty paladin of Voltron’ but he was also a person, with hopes and dreams and things he likes and things he hates. It was strange to realize that someone so important was also so relatable. It was then that I realized something, I wanted to get to know Keith, not just as a hero who saved me from a horrible fate, but as a person and, even though I probably won’t see him again once we’re off this planet, maybe as a…friend.  
I sped up my walking pace until I was about next to him and asked “So, what about you?”  
He looked at me puzzled, “What?”  
“Well, I spent most of last night talking about myself and my world so…what about you?” I asked again with a bright curiosity in my eyes.  
“Well…let’s see…” and he slowly began bringing up different aspects of his planet, a place known as Earth. He told me little things about the people, the buildings, politics, how democrats and republicans were kinda like Neuroes and Ferals, small bits and pieces of his planet. I was starting to get the feeling that Keith was…not the greatest conversationalist.  
“Your home sounds so interesting,” I said as he was finishing up, “Y’know, I’ve always wanted to study interstellar cultures, to see beyond my doorstep, I guess you could say. Living in Anthros makes it difficult though, there’s very limited interest in space travel there.”  
“Really, why?” He asked.  
“I guess it’s because so many people are stuck in there old, traditional mindset. They like to live simply and aren’t to interested in anything new.”  
“Hmph, doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal way to live.” He said  
“No…it’s not.” I said somberly as Keith gave me a strange look, “But nevermind that, let’s get back to your place.” I said perking up again.  
“I don’t know if there’s much else to say,” he said, “It’s difficult to put it all into…woah.”  
We both stopped as we saw a single, massive tree standing alone, away from any other plants. Hanging from its boughs were dozens of plump purple fruit.  
“Oh wow.” I said, “That’s a big one.”  
We walked over to the low branches of the tree as Keith plucked off one of the fruits.  
“Hmm…we’ll have to test these slowly, make sure they aren’t poisonous or any- “  
CRUNCH  
Keith was interrupted as I took a large bite of the mysterious fruit.  
“Shorry, whut shoe say?” I asked between chews.  
“Wh- Arix! We don’t know if these things are edible or not!” He said in a panicked tone.  
“Course they are, it’s galaxy fruit, see?” I said as I showed him the inside of one of the opened fruits. The inside was darker with lots of little seeds that almost twinkled like tiny stars. “It’s a well-known plant for space travellers, and we have some on Domnas too. You can find them on lots of different planets like this that are hospitable for life and vegetation. You can tell them apart because they have a distinct look to them, especially the seeds on the inside.”  
Keith looked at me a little stunned, “uh…ok, but still, this whole planet is new to us, we should be careful.”  
“Ok, but I’m pretty sure it’s fine.” I said as he gave me a rather shrewd look. “Hey, if this kills me later then you can say ‘I told you so’.”  
We loaded up on as much fruit as we could carry and brought it back to the lion. I even managed to convince Keith to eat a few after convincing him that they weren’t killing me because they were poisonous. After that we kept up with basic upkeep things, a bit more fishing, stocking up on firewood, etc. After a short time we had enough supplies foraged that we could rest comfortably for some time, which is why I soon found myself sitting down, propped against the lion, looking at the sun as it started to dip below the horizon.  
“It’s beautiful isn’t it.” I looked up as Keith sat down next to me “Y’know, on Earth I had this little shack that I lived in for a while just before I joined Voltron. It was a pretty run-down set up but…the sunset was a lot like this.”  
“Must’ve been nice then.” I simply said as we continued to sit together in silence. Gazing at the glowing orb as it slowly dipped away. Eventually I broke the silence again.  
“Do you ever miss it? Your home, Earth?” I asked.  
“Well…to be honest, I didn’t really have much back there to miss.” He said, “But yeah, sometimes, a little bit.” He smiled at me, a bit of a sad smile, but it still made my heart jump none the less. “I bet you’re ready to get home though huh?”  
I thought about his question for a moment, “Yeah…I guess.”  
“You guess?”  
“Well…I don’t really have much to miss.” I simply said, giving him a sad smile. I couldn’t help but wonder if it made him feel anything to see me smile like that too. He looked away a bit awkwardly, I thought I could see him blushing a little in the dark, but it might have just been wishful thinking.  
“Well…we’ll still get you back there soon, I promise. The others should be here anytime now.”  
“Yeah, that’s good.” I said, maybe more to myself than to him. “Have you heard anything from them yet?”  
“’sigh’ no, not yet,” he said dejectedly, “but they’ll be here, I know they will.”  
“Yeah…right.” I said as the last drops of sunlight melted below the trees. He was right, they would come, the other paladins, and then I would be home. That was a good thing, even if it didn’t feel like it all the time. Until then we would wait in our little camp on a safe, beautiful planet, and everything would be fine. Nothing would go wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this new and rather long chapter of The Colors of the Universe series. I'm sorry it took so long (not that anyone really reads any of these things yet) please stick around to find out what happens next to our motley duo.
> 
> (spoiler alert, somethings gonna go wrong.)


End file.
